


The Wishing Bell

by Miss_Prince



Category: Winterbells
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-20
Updated: 2010-12-20
Packaged: 2017-10-13 21:43:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/142024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Prince/pseuds/Miss_Prince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which a Bird and a Rabbit bring the gift of hope to their home.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Wishing Bell

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dizmo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dizmo/gifts).



###### First Night

The Bird soared through inky winter skies on her way to her destination, her winter roost in a little valley that she had long ago known to have mild, pleasant winters and be sleepy and peaceful. There was a town there, nestled cozily between mountains to the north and forest to the south, and the Bird could just spy it over the next hill as she flew in from the east.

The town was lovely in the midwinter night, all decked out for the first night of the Festival of the Bells. The lamplights flickered cheerily in the streets, illuminating the long, sturdy ropes strung between the rooftops hung with hundreds of bells of all sizes that tinkled in the gusts that blew in over the hills and the mountains. The strands led everywhere in an endearing holiday frenzy, stretching across streets, up to towers, down to lampposts, a few even stretching halfway across town, high above.

The Bird was filled with nostalgic warmth as she looked down at the little town, for it had been many seasons since she had last seen the sight and she had loved it then. This good cheer reinvigorated old bones and muscles that had traveled many miles, and she swooped gaily down into the streets, weaving in and out of the rope labyrinth, brushing the bells with the tips of her wings to hear them chime. It had been a long time since she had felt so merry. She was just turning to make another circuit of the town when?

THUNK!

The Bird was halfway to the ground before she managed to right herself. Something had attacked her from above! Worried the danger had not yet passed, the Bird banked sharply and flitted away toward the safety of her roost.

Once she was safe and settled, the Bird began to wonder just what had really happened. She could almost believe she had imagined the incident, if her sore back hadn?t been a steadfast reminder. At length, she snuggled down, exhausted by the day?s long journey, and slept untroubled through the night.

* * *

###### Second Night

By the next evening the Bird had regained her courage, and so she returned to the little town to view the bells once again, for she did so love the way the town looked all trussed up for midwinter. The whole town had gathered in the square for the holiday festivities, and the Bird spent some time watching them as they ate and drank and danced and laughed together in the cold night.

When it grew late and the Bird's old bones began to protest the cold, she set flight, intending to return to her roost and sleep. But as she passed over an empty alleyway, a creeping sense of foreboding stole over her, and she proceeded cautiously, alert to every subtle change in the air currents around her.

There, above her!

The Bird banked sharply to the left, and a dark shape fell past, right where she had been only moments before, and landed with a muffled _thump_ in the snow. The Bird alit on a gutter, peering at the place where the shape had fallen, ready to take flight once more at the first sign of danger. The snow shifted, and then something popped up.

It was a rabbit, just barely grown into adulthood, with sleek fur as white as the surrounding her. The Rabbit twitched her nose and sneezed, and then she shook herself and wiped the snow from her nose with her white paws.

Relief that there was no danger gave way to indignance, for the Bird was certain this young rabbit was the same creature who had attacked her the night before, and she had nearly done it again! The Bird fluttered down to perch on a gate, in order to better speak with the Rabbit.

"Little Rabbit," she said, "what are you doing? You have attacked me two nights in a row as I flew through the town. If this is some game of yours it is a very poor one."

"I did not attack you," the Rabbit replied, settling back on her haunches and pulling herself taller. "I simply missed a jump, and you had the misfortune to be beneath me at the time."

"Twice?" the Bird asked.

The Rabbit's ears twitched. "You must be very unlucky." The Rabbit hopped forward. "But I am sorry if I startled you."

The Bird was not entirely mollified, but she was willing to let the subject drop. "What are you doing out here so late?" she asked instead. "This is no time for young rabbits to be out and about."

"I'm practicing," the Rabbit replied.

"Practicing?"

"Yes. Do you see the bell tower up yonder?" The Rabbit looked westward, and the Bird followed her gaze to a tower on the edge of town that rose above all the other buildings. "There is an old tale that tells if that bell rings during the festival, everyone who hears it will get a wish." The Rabbit sat up proudly with her ears forward. "I will ring the bell."

The Bird ruffled her feathers. "That is a silly old story, and you are too old to be believing in such things," she sniffed. "Besides, how could you possibly reach the bell so very high up above the town?"

"That's why I'm practicing," the Rabbit said matter-of-factly. "Good night, Madam Bird." And she began to hop away down the street.

The Bird watched for a moment, and then she flapped her wings and set off for home, wondering at the curious encounter that had just occurred.

* * *

###### Third Night

The next night the Bird once again visited the town square to watch the people dancing and making merry. But this time she decided to leave early, and she flew around the quiet town, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. It wasn't until she spied the Rabbit on a rooftop below her that she realized she had been seeking her out.

She landed nearby. "What are you doing now, Little Rabbit?" she asked.

"I told you," the Rabbit replied. "Practicing." She twitched her nose and thumped one large hind foot, and before the Bird could ask another question, she jumped from the roof out into the open air.

The Bird was badly startled, and she nearly dove off the roof to catch the foolish Rabbit. But then the Rabbit bounced back into view, landing on a bell on the line strung across the alleyway and nearly instantly leaping up to land on another, leaving an echoing jingle in her wake. She bounded across a low string of bells to a point where a higher string hung close enough to leap up, and then up the side of that to a third line, always quickly and carefully moving from one bell to another.

And then one of the bells broke from its line beneath the Rabbit's weight, and her next leap tilted badly and missed its target, and she fell with a _whumph_ into a snowdrift below.

The Bird fluttered down next to the Rabbit as she popped back out of the snow and began to brush herself off. "What foolishness is this?" asked the Bird.

"This is how I will reach the bell tower," the Rabbit replied.

"It's how you will break your neck," the Bird retorted. The Rabbit only sniffed and bounded up from gate to windowsill to gutter to rooftop, obviously preparing to begin again. "You should stop this dangerous game before that happens."

"Thank you for your concern, but it is not really any business of yours whether I continue or not," the Rabbit replied. "Good night, Madam Bird."

So dismissed, the Bird had little choice but to depart for her roost, leaving the Rabbit to continue her practice alone.

* * *

###### Fourth Night

The Bird did not even fly to the town square the next night, instead choosing to search the streets and rooftops for the Rabbit. She found her on the west side of town, near the bell tower.

"Little Rabbit," the Bird said as she landed, "are you still playing your jumping game?"

"I am still jumping, but it is not a game," the Rabbit replied. "Tonight I have had enough practice. Tonight I will reach the bell tower."

"It is very high up; what will you do if you miss?" the Bird asked.

"I will not miss," said the Rabbit, and then she leapt. She bounded up from one bell to another, from line to line to line, filling the air with the tinkling of the bells. Soon she was higher than the Bird had ever seen her jump, and not long after that she was higher than she had ever jumped before at all, and then she was leaping for the string of bells that led right up to the tower window.

But she missed.

When she saw the Rabbit begin to fall, the Bird launched herself into air despite a creak of protest from her wings, and she darted in to catch the Rabbit as best she could before she hit the ground. But the Rabbit was too heavy for the Bird to truly carry, and so they tumbled together into the snow.

The Bird was very angry with the Rabbit. "You would have been killed if I had not caught you. No fairytale story of wishes is worth your life! You are a very foolish rabbit, and it was very foolish to think you could reach that bell tower way up there without breaking your neck. You should go home right now and never jump off rooftops again."

The Rabbit looked at the Bird reproachfully, and there was something in her eyes that the Bird could not quite understand. But then the Rabbit turned away and hopped off down the street -- just slightly unevenly, as though she had injured a paw -- and the Bird did not follow. She flew home herself and tried to sleep, doing her best to ignore a strange sense of guilt in her heart.

* * *

###### Fifth Night

The next night, the Bird circled the town for a long time, but the Rabbit was nowhere to be found.

* * *

###### Sixth Night

The Bird was beginning to regret the words she had spoken in fear and anger, and she was worried about the Rabbit. So when a search of the town did not find the Rabbit once again the next night, she turned southward into the forest to look for her there.

It took a long time, but the Bird finally found her in a small clearing, sitting on a snow-covered log. The Bird alit on a low-hanging branch and called out, "Little Rabbit."

The Rabbit turned to her, and there was sadness in her eyes, as well as frustration. The Bird felt guiltier than ever.

"Little Rabbit, I apologize," the Bird said. "I do not want to see you hurt, but I did not realize this was so important to you."

The Rabbit looked down. "It is," she said.

"I do not understand _why_ it is important, though," said the Bird.

The Rabbit hesitated, and then she looked at the Bird once more. "Madam Bird, you do not live in this valley all year. I have never seen you before this winter, so you must not have been here in a very long time. So you could not know how things are."

"How things are?" the Bird asked, puzzled. "Is something wrong?"

"The last few winters have been very harsh, and the springs dry, and the summers scorching, and the wild plants and the crops have grown poorly. Both the creatures of the forest and the people of the town have struggled to eat, toiling very hard and very long for very little."

The Rabbit sat upright, eyes bright. "But we have survived so far, and I know we can continue to survive. But we can only do that if we do not give in to despair."

She paused, looking up at the moon and bright stars above them through the barren branches. "You have called me foolish for believing in wishes and fairytales," the Rabbit said. "But it is not wishes I believe in. It is hope." She looked the Bird straight in the eye. "If the people of the town and the creatures of the forest hear that bell ring, they will make wishes, and they will think that maybe, just maybe those wishes will come true. And maybe they will! But even if they don't, that hope will give them the strength to survive another year, another chance for the winter to be mild, the spring green and wet, and the summer warm and balmy, and for the wild plants and the crops to grow tall and food to be plentiful again."

The Rabbit stopped then, and she slumped back down on all fours, looking at the ground. "But it doesn't matter. You were right; I cannot reach the bell tower. It was foolish to try."

The Bird felt very badly for the little rabbit, and for all the creatures of the forest and the people of the town. She deeply regretted what she had told the Rabbit before. "No," she said decisively, and she glided down to land beside the Rabbit on the log. "I was wrong. I believe you can reach the tower. I should not have spoken so harshly; it was I who was foolish."

The Rabbit still looked bleak. "Even if I could have at one time, I cannot now. I injured my hind paw when I fell. It has healed some, but I cannot jump as high now, and the festival ends tomorrow night."

"You can still do it," the Bird said. "I will help you. I promise."

The Rabbit looked at her for a long time, and then she finally said, "Alright. I will try. Meet me tomorrow night on the west side of town, and I will one last time to reach the bell tower."

The Bird assented, and then she flew off toward her home, to rest and store up strength for the following night.

* * *

###### Seventh Night

The last night of the festival saw all the townspeople gathered in the square once more, the lights brighter and the music and laughter louder than ever. But the Bird passed it by and flew all the way to the west side of town, where she found the Rabbit waiting for her on the same rooftop she had jumped from three nights before.

"You can do this," the Bird said as she landed.

"I will do my best," the Rabbit replied. She looked up at the criss-crossing strings of bells above them. "Are you ready?"

The Bird spread her wings and took off, circling above and watching her companion closely. The Rabbit twitched her nose, thumped her back foot, and leaped from the roof. She moved from bell to bell, her jumps far shorter and more cautious than they had been before, but she made steady progress, up and up and up with a jingle or a tinkle following each leap as the bells swung to and fro in the night air. The Bird stayed as near as she could to the Rabbit as she made her way up into the air.

When the Rabbit had nearly reached the string of bells that lead to the bell tower window, another bell broke free beneath her, throwing her next jump wild. The Bird swooped in, positioning herself beneath the Rabbit just in time for her companion to push off her back and correct her course, turning to land properly on the final line of bells leading to the tower. The Bird broke off, flapped her wings a few times, and returned to circling.

The string of bells did not reach the tower window itself, but rather connected to a ledge a bit below it. The Rabbit made her way slowly but surely along the line, bell to bell to bell. Finally, she made a leap for the window. But with her injured paw, she could not jump high enough to reach it. She landed on another bell and had no choice but to leap again.

The Bird swooped in one more time, ignoring the ache in her back, and the Rabbit landed on her once more, giving her the boost she needed to reach the windowsill and enter the tower. The Bird circled once, tucked in her wings, and joined her companion inside.

The Rabbit contemplated the bell hanging in front of them. Then she gathered herself up and leaped from the sill toward the bell, twisting in midair so that she struck it with her powerful hind feet.

The bell moved, but only slightly. It wasn't nearly enough to ring. The Rabbit was not discouraged. She had come so far! She returned to the sill and leaped again to kick the bell, and this time it moved just a little bit farther. She leaped again, and again, and the Bird hopped up to join her on the sill and leap with her, adding strength.

And then the bell began to ring.

The Rabbit and the Bird kept leaping at the bell as it rang and rang and rang out over the whole valley. And every person in the town and every creature in the forest heard the sound and made a wish, and their hearts were filled with the promise of a new year.

And the winter was harsh, but they survived to see the spring come wet and green, and the summer warm and balmy, and the wild plants and crops grow tall and food become plentiful again. And the Bird remained in the valley with her friend the Rabbit.

And though they did not always live happily for ever after, when times were hard they kept hope alive in their hearts, and they survived to see a new year and a new chance at happiness once more.


End file.
